5 Simple but Important Tips to Improve Your Work-Life Balance

Do you have a comfortable equilibrium between your work and your private life?

“A comfortable state of equilibrium achieved between an employee’s primary priorities of their employment position and their private lifestyle. […] the demands of an employee’s career should not overwhelm the individual’s ability to enjoy a satisfying personal life outside of the business environment.”

In today’s world, most people play a variety of different roles in their everyday lives. When looking at work-life balance, “work” obviously relates to everything you do as a worker, and “life” would be related to all other social or familial roles you play, such as spouse or friend. It all takes real effort to manage.

How can anyone achieve an equilibrium, much less a comfortable equilibrium? We’ve got a few answers for you.

1. Understand why you work.

It’s true that work is essential because it provides revenue for businesses, which in turn puts money in your pocket in the form of pay cheques. These cheques let you pay for food, housing, transportation, and other leisure activities which allow you to take your mind off of work. The thing is, more and more of us have been sacrificing leisure (with many people going so far as to work while on vacation).

This is a problem. It’s simple logic; if you’re constantly working, you’re not unwinding. That’s going to hurt your work (and everything else you do) because your mind needs a break from the daily stress it receives.

2. Make proper family and home schedules.

You’ve got things to do at work and you’ve got things to do at home. Both parts of your life are important, and you can’t sacrifice one for the other. Clearly separating your tasks for work and at home will help you draw the line between “work” and “life” so that you can stay focused on what you’re doing in the moment.

This is also useful for planning ahead and crossing things off of your list (which we all know is a great feeling). It will also help you allocate time in your schedule to spend with your family (and by “spend time with your family”, I don’t mean watching television. Go out and enjoy some quality time with them. They need it, and you need it.).

3. Take breaks.

While at work, do you find yourself drowning in so much work that you barely take minute to relax, or even to eat your lunch? It is crucial for you to take a short break every now and then to let yourself cool off and/or eat. Studies have shown that taking a ten minute break every two hours will increase your productivity and effectiveness throughout the day allowing you to work smarter!

4. Exercise.

If you finish work and immediately go home and find yourself doing more work or doing house chores for several hours, you haven’t achieved a proper work-life balance. Here’s a tip; stop off at the gym before going back home.

If you don’t want to go to the gym, put some jogging clothes and go for a walk or run before doing anything else! It’s a win-win situation; it will keep you mentally healthy by taking your mind off of work, and will also keep you physically healthy by being active! Let’s not forget that it will also help you blow off some steam.

5. Take some time for yourself.

You’re most likely surrounded by people at work, and the same applies at home with family and friends. Everyone needs some “me time” to cool down and relax. Relaxing will allow you to unwind and clear your mind, which will allow you to pursue your social activities at a later time in a more effective (and happy) way.

By the way, bringing work home and completing it on your own isn’t considered “taking time for yourself”. Seriously, don’t feel guilty about stopping work after you’ve already spent a long day at the office!

Still unsure about your own personal work-life balance? Take this quiz by the Canadian Mental Health Association to see if you need some adjusting.

Speaking of work-life balance, Cimpl is the leader in IT and telecom expense management and it is all thanks to the great company values and great people who work here! All our employees enjoy a balanced work-life lifestyle all while helping the company grow. Interested in working in such a dynamic company? Don’t wait any longer,join the teamnow!

Henry is a dedicated technical writer, focused on conducting market research, contributing to product design, and writing clear and concise documentation for the company. He is an enthusiastic team member and is passionate about science and technology, who plays a key role in Cimpl’s product messaging. His dedication to writing is reflected in his experience in authoring academic papers, documentation, user guides, and in contributing to Cimpl’s marketing efforts.

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Cimpl is leading the revolution in telecom, IT and cloud expense management. Its software-as-a-service platform brings together actionable data analytics and automates business processes to ensure optimal ROI on technology assets.